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Saturday, October 19, 2013

Android KitKat: Google Copies Apple

Where Apple failed on its cartoonish looking and overly simplified design of iOS 7, Google has made up for in the [newly leaked] Android KitKat update. The update, (if the leaked photos are anything to go by) have caused many iOS users call foul and both the Apple and Android communities predicting yet another Apple/Google patient over the horizon. Following the release of the much anticipated, yet poorly critiqued iOS 7, and now KitKat, the similarities between the two operating systems are undoubtably becoming more obvious. From what I can gather, the new Android interface draws much inspiration from Samsung's TouchWiz overlay, however if a year-long lawsuit can dictate, looks a lot like Apple's iOS.

The Comparison (iOS 7; left and KitKat; right)

The only similarity in the home screen's of the two handsets are the bright colours used in the icons and the stock wallpapers. As for the lock screens, both have a close resemblance, especially the camera shortcut at the bottom right of the screen. Despite this, both operating systems are still quite different from one another, and in my opinion anyway, Google didn't copy Apple. However some, like David Gilbert of the International Business Times say different. Gilbert wrote in a recent article that the new Android interface looks "just like iOS 7," listing various features that he believed had a close resemblance to the mobile OS; including the "transparency of the app-drawer and status bar". OH PLEASE.